[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of
the Village of Webster 3-13-1986 as Sec. 9-3-5 of the 1986 Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.Â
Whoever intentionally alters indicia of price or value of merchandise or takes and carries away, transfers, conceals or retains possession of merchandise held for resale by a merchant without consent and with intent to deprive the merchant permanently of possession or the full purchase price may be penalized as provided in § 237-3.
B.Â
The intentional concealment of unpurchased merchandise
which continues from one floor to another or beyond the last station
for receiving payments in a merchant's store is evidence of intent
to deprive the merchant permanently of possession of such merchandise
without paying the purchase price thereof. The discovery of unpurchased
merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of another
is evidence of intentional concealment on the part of the person so
concealing such goods.
A merchant or merchant's adult employee who
has probable cause for believing that a person has violated this chapter
in his presence may detain such person in a reasonable manner for
a reasonable length of time to deliver him to a peace officer or to
his parent or guardian if a minor. The detained person must be promptly
informed of the purpose for the detention and may make phone calls,
but he shall not be interrogated or searched against his will before
the arrival of a police officer who may conduct a lawful interrogation
of the accused person. Compliance with this section entitles the merchant
or his employee effecting the detention to the same defense in any
action as is available to a peace officer making an arrest in the
line of duty.
If the value of the merchandise does not exceed
$100, any person violating this chapter shall forfeit not more than
$200. If the value of the merchandise exceeds $100, this chapter shall
not apply and the matter shall be referred to the County District
Attorney for criminal prosecution.
[Added 7-8-2009]
A.Â
ARCHIVES
LIBRARY
LIBRARY MATERIAL
Definitions. For the purposes of this section, certain words and
terms are defined as follows:
A place in which public or institutional records are systematically
preserved.
Any public library, library of an educational or historical
organization or society or museum, and specifically the public libraries
within the Village of Webster and school libraries.
Includes any book, plate, picture, photograph, engraving,
painting, drawing, map, newspaper, magazine, pamphlet, broadside,
manuscript, document, letter, public record, microform, sound recording,
audiovisual materials in any format, magnetic or other tapes, electronic
data processing records, or other tapes, artifacts or other documents,
written or printed materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics,
belonging to, on loan to or otherwise in the custody of a library.
B.Â
Possession without consent prohibited. Whoever intentionally takes
and carries away, transfers, conceals or retains possession of any
library material without the consent of a library official, agent
or employee and with intent to deprive the library of possession of
the material may be subject to forfeiture as provided by the general
penalty provisions of this Code. The failure to return library material
after its proper return date, after written notice from the library,
shall be deemed to be theft. Notice shall be considered given when
written notice is mailed to the last known address of the person with
the overdue material; the notice date shall be the date of the mailing.
C.Â
Concealment. The concealment of library material beyond the last
station for borrowing library material in a library is evidence of
intent to deprive the library of possession of the material. The discovery
of library material which has not been borrowed in accordance with
the library's procedures or taken with consent of a library official,
agent or employee and which is concealed upon the person or among
the belongings of another is evidence of intentional concealment on
the part of the person so concealing the material.
D.Â
Detention based on probably cause. An official or adult employee
or agent of a library who has probable cause for believing that a
person has violated this section in his or her presence may detain
the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time
to deliver the person to a law enforcement officer or the person's
parent or guardian in the case of a minor. The detained person shall
be promptly informed of the purpose of the detention and be permitted
to make telephone calls, but shall not be interrogated or searched
against his or her will before the arrival of a peace control officer
who may conduct a lawful interrogation of the accused person. Compliance
with this section entitles the official, agent or employee effecting
the detention to the same defense in any action as is available to
a peace officer making an arrest in the line of duty.
E.Â
Damaging material prohibited. No person shall mar, deface or in any other way damage or mutilate any book, periodical, pamphlet, picture or other article or property belonging to or in charge of the library. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be subject to the penalties as set forth in § 237-4G.
F.Â
Return demanded. No person shall fail, on demand, to return any book, periodical, pamphlet, picture or other articles or property belonging to or in charge of the public library according to the rules or regulations duly made and adopted by the Library Board, and no person shall remove from the library any book, periodical, pamphlet, picture or other articles or property without first having it charged as provided by such rules and regulations. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this subsection shall be subject to the penalties as set forth in § 237-4G.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 943.61, Wis. Stats.
